This past winter, I was prompted to make a crochet hat. To knit a hat, was completely out of the question. My knitting skills are not that advanced. So, after several attempts and studying patterns online, I finally came up with my own style and a flower that was too cute to adorn it. Viola!!! Oh, thanks muther, for the inspiration and encouragement.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Pearls, a natural gem, is considered a sign of wealth and good taste. It's the only natural occurring gem created by a living creature. And, they never go out of style. They have been worn for thousands of years. They can be worn as a: single strand, multi strand, twisted multi strand, as a pendant, or within a pattern of other types of beads. Pearls are classified as either natural or cultured.

Natural pearls are harvested from saltwater or freshwater. They occur naturally without human intervention. A mollusk secretes layers of nacre around an irritant, that has entered naturally, to protect itself. This nacre covered irritant becomes the nucleus of a pearl. The longer the irritant is inside the mollusk the larger the pearl will be. An irritant can be a small sea animal, snails, worms, debris, shell bits, clay, or on the rare occasion a grain of sand. A natural pearl is very rare and extremely expensive. Natural pearl color is usually white. And, its shape might be round or baroque.

Cultured pearls are harvested from saltwater and freshwater, as well. The difference from a natural pearl is that instead of the irritant entering the mollusk naturally, human intervention takes over and skilled hands will place an irritant inside the shell. The mollusk is usually a oyster or mussel. And, very good care is taken to cultivate the pearl until it's ready to be harvested.

For cultured freshwater pearls, the irritant introduced to the mollusk that will eventually form the pearl nucleus is a piece of shaped mantle from another mollusk. A single mussel might grow 10-20 pearls, therefore, this method is inexpensive.

Cultured saltwater pearls have a shell bead nucleus with mantle tissue introduced as an irritant. When the pearls are harvested in this instance, the oyster dies. The rate of pearl production for cultured saltwater pearls are slow. Only 1 in 5 pearls from a given oyster is salable, hence a higher price. Cultured pearls very in size, shape and color. Naturally occurring colors are white, pink, lilac, cream, grey, black or gold.

Popular Pearls:

Lake Biwa Pearls-Lake Biwa is where freshwater pearls are grown in Japan.

Akoya Pearls- a name of a cultured pearl type also known as "Japanese pearls". These pearls are round or near round and are usually about 7mm in size. The colors vary between white and cream to silver with pink overtones.

Persian Gulf Pearls- are natural pearls, also known as "oriental pearls". This area is considered the main hub for the finest natural pearls on Earth.

South Seas Pearls- Seawater pearls from Thailand, Burma, Indonesia, the Philippines and Southeast Asia to Northern Australia across to French Polynesia to the Tahitian Islands. Pearls cultivated here are the largest and most expensive, especially those from the Australian waters. The color of the pearl depends on the specific area it's from, for example, the Indonesian and Philippine pearl might be golden or light yellowish, whereas the Aussie pearl might be white and silvery.

South Sea Golden Pearl Strand

Tahitian Pearls or Black Pearls- these pearls are legendary occurring in sizes 8mm to 18mm. They are harvested from black-lipped oysters and are the only natural black pearls in the world. Pearls from this area have also been known to be light black or silvery, dark or light grey with the rarest being peacock green.